Plate building material

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a plate building material, which comprises a plurality of strip fiber units, a filler and a coupling agent. The plurality of strip fiber units includes a plurality of crude chaffs. The fiber axes of the chaffs are randomly oriented. A plurality of gaps exists among the chaffs. The filler fills the gaps dispersed among the chaffs and bonds the strip fiber units to form a plate structure. The coupling agent is distributed on the interfaces between the strip fiber units and the filler to enhance the bonding between the strip fiber units and the filler. The plate building material of the present invention has the advantages: preserving chaff fiber to enhance strength; easiness to acquire chaffs; reducing consumption of wood and plastic; being environment-friendly, durable and economic.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a plate building material, particularly to a plate building material, wherein strip fiber units made of crude chaffs, a filler and a coupling agent are integrated to form a plate structure.

2. Description of the Related Arts

Wood is the most frequently-used material in daily life. The fiber of wood has appropriate strength, and the texture thereof has esthetic appearance. Therefore, wood is widely used in building and furniture. More and more trees are being felled to meet fast increasing consumption of woodenware and paper, and timber trespasses emerge frequently everywhere. It affects ecology seriously because trees grow slowly. During usage, wood is likely to be deformed by moisture, eaten by worms, aged, and rotted. Besides, high-quality ironwoods are expensive. Petrochemical products can usually replace wood. However, petrochemical products cause more serious pollution, and the waste thereof is hard to process. As to plywood, the rigidity thereof is normally insufficient.

Thus, many manufacturers are eager develop an environment-friendly and durable building material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a plate building material wherein crude chaffs in its original strip fiber unit structure, is integrated with filler and coupling agent to form the plate building material. And by keeping chaffs' original strip fiber structure, it enhances the strength of the plate building material. The chaffs are sourced from rice husks or wheat husks which are easy to acquire. The present invention can reduce consumption of wood and plastic making plate building material an environment-friendly and economical choice.

In one embodiment, the plate building material of the present invention comprises a plurality of strip fiber units, a filler and a coupling agent. The strip fiber units are made of a plurality of crude chaffs. The axes of the fibers of the chaffs are randomly oriented. A plurality of gaps exists among the chaffs. The filler fills the gaps distributed among the chaffs and bonds the strip fiber units to form a plate structure. The coupling agent is distributed on the interfaces between the strip fiber units and the filler to enhance the bonding between the strip fiber unit and the filler.

In one embodiment, the chaffs are rice husks, wheat husks or a combination of rice husks and wheat husks.

In one embodiment, the filler includes at least one selected from a group consisting of nylon, PP (polypropene), PE (polyethene), PVC (polyvinylchloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and recycled and regenerated materials thereof.

In one embodiment, the coupling agent is selected from a group consisting of maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins, titanate coupling agents, and silane coupling agents.

In one embodiment, the plate building material of the present invention further comprises a stabilizer that is distributed in the filler to inhibit or decelerate deterioration or denaturation of the plate building material, which may occur during fabrication or processing or occur in finished products.

In one embodiment, the stabilizer includes at least one selected from a group including heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, antioxidants, and anti-scorching agents.

In one embodiment, the chaffs are in a broken state or a crushed state.

In one embodiment, the plate building material further comprises at least one type of natural fiber units and artificial fiber units; the filler and at least one type of natural fiber units and artificial fiber units fill the gaps distributed among the chaffs; and the filler bonds the stripe fiber units and at least one type of the natural fiber units and the artificial fiber units to form a plate structure.

In one embodiment, the natural fiber units include at least one of rice straws, wooden materials, coconut shells, corn stalks, corn leaves, corn cobs, wheat husks, wheat stems, sugarcane bagasse, and bamboo.

In one embodiment, the artificial fiber units include at least one of fabrics, glass fiber, and paper.

In one embodiment, the natural fiber units and the artificial fiber units are in a broken state or a crushed state.

In one embodiment, the plate building material further comprises at least one of flame-retardants, heat dissipating materials, sound absorbing materials, rubber, talcum powder, recycled and regenerated materials, and silica sand.

In one embodiment, the plate building material has transverse grooves or longitudinal grooves or a combination thereof; several layers of the plate building materials respectively having the transverse grooves and the longitudinal grooves are arranged alternately and hot-pressed to form interwoven hollow spaces.

In one embodiment, the plate building material is fabricated into hollow tube structures.

Below, embodiments are described in detail in cooperation with attached drawings to make easily understood the objectives, technical contents, characteristics and accomplishments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A schematically shows a plate building material according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a locally-enlarged view of the plate building material shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively schematically show transverse grooves and longitudinal grooves press-formed on the plate building materials according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a plate building material with multilayer interwoven grooves according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 schematically shows that a plate building material is fabricated into a hollow tube structure according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. According to one embodiment, the plate building material 10 of the present invention comprises a plurality of strip fiber units 20, a filler 30 and a coupling agent 32. The plurality of strip fiber units 20 includes a plurality of crude chaffs 22. The fiber axes of the chaffs 22 are randomly oriented. A plurality of gaps S exists among the chaffs 22. The filler 30 fills the gaps S distributed among the chaffs 22 and bonds the strip fiber units 20 to form a plate structure. The coupling agent 32 is distributed on the interfaces between the strip fiber units 20 and the filler 30 to enhance the bonding between the strip fiber units 20 and the filler 30.

Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B again. According to one embodiment, the plate building material 10 of the present invention comprises a plurality of strip fiber units 20, a filler 30 and a coupling agent 32. The plurality of strip fiber units 20 includes a plurality of crude chaffs 22. The present invention does not constrain the types of the chaffs 22. Preferably, the chaffs 22 are rice husks, wheat husks, or a combination of rice husks and wheat husks. In one embodiment, chaffs are used as the strip fiber units 20 because chaffs are readily available and inexpensive (the cost thereof is only the fee for transporting them). For example, rice husks can be sourced from domestic agricultural regions, or other rice-planting nations, such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. As rice husks contain silicon, they have anti-bacterium, anti-mold and anti-pest functions. The conventional technology burns chaffs into ash or minces chaffs into powder and uses the ash or powder to fabricate environment-friendly building material. Contrarily, the present invention directly uses the crude chaffs 22 to fabricate the plate building material, neither burning nor mincing the chaffs. The crude chaffs 22 keep the original strip fiber structure, which can enhance the strength of the plate building material. The types of the filler 30 and the coupling agent 32 and the ratio thereof depend on the requirement of the user. The filler is normally a plastic material. In the conventional technology, the filler is the primary component of the environment-friendly plate building material, and chaffs are only the minor component of the conventional plate building material. However, the chaffs 22 with the fiber axes thereof randomly oriented is the primary component of the plate building material of the present invention, uniformly enhancing the strength of the plate building material. The filler 30 fills the gaps S randomly distributed among the chaffs 22 to form tight bonding between the chaffs 22 and the filler 30 (as shown in FIG. 1B), further enhancing the strength of the plate building material 10. The coupling agent 32 enhances the strength of the interfaces between the strip fiber units 20 and the filler 30, improving the mechanical properties of the plate building material 10, such as the abrasion-resistance and the impact-resistance. The coupling agent 32 is selected from a group consisting of maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins, titanate coupling agents, and silane coupling agents. In the present invention, the proportion of the filler 30 ranges between 20-30% only. The filler 30 includes at least one selected from a group consisting of nylon, PP (polypropene), PE (polyethene), PVC (polyvinylchloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and recycled and regenerated materials. In one embodiment, nylon and a maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin are respectively used as the filler 30 and the coupling agent 32, greatly increasing the fracture strength and the fracture elongation of the plate building material 10.

The present invention adopts chaffs as the primary component, making full use of agricultural waste, benefiting environmental protection, and is economical. Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B again. In one embodiment, the plate building material 10 of the present invention further comprises a stabilizer 34. The stabilizer 34 is distributed in the filler 30 to inhibit or decelerate deterioration or denaturation of the plate building material 10, which may occur during fabrication or processing or occur in finished products. The stabilizer 34 includes at least one of heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, antioxidants, and anti-scorching agents. In one embodiment, an anti-UV stabilizer is added into the plate building material 10, preventing the plate building material 10 from being deteriorated by UV light. In one embodiment, an antioxidant is added into the plate building material 10, preventing the plate building material 10 from being decomposed by oxidization. In addition to the filler 30, the coupling agent 32 and the stabilizer 34, the plate building material 10 may further comprise at least one of flame-retardants (such as magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and zinc borate), heat dissipating materials, sound absorbing materials, rubber (such waste tires), talcum powder, recycled and regenerated materials, and silica sand (such as glass sand), whereby to reduce the cost and/or modify the nature of the plate building material 10. In one embodiment, the abandoned or redundant plate building material 10 is smashed and recycled as one component of the plate building material 10. In one embodiment, the fragments of waste tires is used as one component of the plate building material 10 to increase the strength of the plate building material 10. From the above discussion, it is obvious that the filler 30, the coupling agent 32 and the stabilizer 34 can be mixed with other materials to achieve different functions without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Below is described the process for fabricating a plate building material according to one embodiment of the present invention. Firstly, prepare a plurality of strip fiber units 20 and a filler 30. Next, mix the strip fiber units 20 and the filler 30 with additives such as coupling agent 32 and stabilizer 34 to form a mixture. Next, use an extruder to extrude the mixture as the plate building material 10, which is ready to use after cooling down. It should be noted that although the crude chaffs 22 may be broken or crushed during mixing, extruding or pressing, the broken or crushed chaffs 22 still keep the original strip fiber structure, which is obviously different from the ash of burned chaffs or the powder of the minced chaffs of the conventional technology. The plate building material 10 can be formed into different shapes or further processed to meet the requirements of users. In one embodiment, the plate building material 10 is fabricated to a multilayer structure having interwoven hollow spaces formed by transverse grooves or longitudinal grooves or the combination thereof. Refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. For example, the first layer of the plate building material 10 is pressed to have transverse grooves 10A, and the second layer of the plate building material 10 is pressed to have longitudinal grooves 10B; several layers of the plate building materials 10 respectively having the transverse grooves 10A and the longitudinal grooves 10B are arranged alternately and hot-pressed to obtain a multilayer plate building material 10 with grooves interwoven thereinside, as shown in FIG. 3. Thereby, the multilayer groove structure of the plate building material 10 has interwoven hollow spaces, which can enhance the mechanical strength, reduce the weight and keep warmth. In one embodiment, woody texture skin is stuck to the plate building material 10 to have esthetic appearance and smooth surface. In one embodiment, a fire-proof layer is stuck to the plate building material 10 to improve fire safety. In other embodiments, the plate building material 10 of the present invention is fabricated to have various structures. For example, the plate building material 10 is fabricated into a hollow tube structure (as shown in FIG. 4) to lightweight the structure without losing the strength thereof.

The plate building material 10 has superior mechanical properties and is more durable, lightweight, water-resistant than wood. The plate building material 10 is also easy to work. If the chaffs of the plate building material 10 include rice husks, the plate building material 10 would be antiseptic, moldproof and mothproof. In household application, the plate building material 10 can be fabricated into bookcases, tables, chairs, and door planks. In construction and decoration, the plate building material 10 can be fabricated into decoration materials, floors, roof titles, lightweight partitions, and even formworks. If the plate building material 10 is fabricated into hollow bricks or hollow pipes, the hollow bricks or hollow pipes can be further filled with reinforced cement to function as outdoor building materials. As the plate building material 10 is waterproof, it would be more weatherable than wood when used outdoors. No toxic gas is generated while the plate building material 10 (such as the plate building material 10 containing nontoxic polyethylene) is burned. Therefore, the plate building material 10 is suitable to be fabricated into economical and environment-friendly cremation coffins. On the other hand, the conventional wooden products are usually the propagation paths of pests. The forests of United States, Canada, and China have seriously suffered from pinewood nematode. Therefore, wooden products need to be treated with pesticides before customs clearance. Contrarily, the plate building material 10 of the present invention is primarily made of chaffs, which are free from blight. Therefore, the products made of the plate building material 10 are exempted from pesticide treatment and save time and money. For example, the forklift pallets would not become a propagate path of pests during transportation if the pallets are made of the plate building material 10.

It should be noted that the plate building material 10 may further comprise at least one type of natural fiber units and artificial fiber units. In one embodiment, the strip fiber units 20 include synthetic fibers and natural fibers in addition to the crude chaffs 22. Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B again. The filler 30 and at least of the natural fiber units and the artificial fiber units fill the gaps S among the chaffs 22; the filler 30 binds the strip fiber units 20 at least one of the natural fiber units and artificial fiber units to form a plate structure. The natural fiber units include at least one of rice husks, rice straws, wooden materials, coconut shells, corn stalks, corn leaves, corn cobs, wheat husks, wheat stems, sugarcane bagasse, and bamboo. The artificial fiber units include at least one of fabrics (such as screen fabric), glass fiber, and paper. In one embodiment, the natural fiber units are sourced form redundant agricultural products or waste plants; the artificial fiber units are sourced from recycled waste. In one embodiment, the strip fiber units 20 are in a broken state or a crushed state, such as wood debris or wood powder.

In conclusion, the present invention proposes a plate building material, wherein strip fiber units made of crude chaffs, a filler and a coupling agent are integrated to form the plate building material, and wherein the chaff fiber enhances the strength of the plate building material. The chaffs are sourced from rice husks or wheat husks and thus easy to acquire. The present invention can reduce consumption of wood and plastic. Further, the plate building material of the present invention has superior mechanical properties and is more durable, lightweight, water-resistant, blight-resistant, and easy to work than wood. If the plate building material does not adopt any toxic component, it would not generate toxic gas during combustion. Other materials may be added to the plate building material to diversify the application thereof and make full use of the resources.

The embodiments described above are only to demonstrate the technical thought and characteristics of the present invention to enable the persons skilled in the art to understand, make, and use the present invention. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A plate building material comprising a plurality of strip fiber units made of a plurality of crude chaffs, wherein axes of fibers of said chaffs are randomly oriented, and wherein a plurality of gaps exists among said chaffs and is distributed dispersively; a filler filling said gaps dispersively distributed among said chaffs and bonding said strip fiber units to form a plate structure; and a coupling agent distributed on interfaces between said strip fiber units and said filler to enhance bonding between said strip fiber units and said filler.
 2. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said chaffs are rice husks, wheat husks, or mixtures of said rice husks and said wheat husks.
 3. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said filler includes at least one selected from a group consisting of nylon, PP (polypropene), PE (polyethene), PVC (polyvinylchloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and recycled and regenerated materials thereof.
 4. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said coupling agent is selected from a group consisting of maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins, titanate coupling agents, and silane coupling agents.
 5. The plate building material according to claim 1 further comprising a stabilizer distributed in said filler to inhibit or decelerate deterioration or denaturation of said plate building material, which occurs during fabrication or processing, or occurs in finished products.
 6. The plate building material according to claim 4, wherein said stabilizer includes at least one of heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, antioxidants, and anti-scorching agents.
 7. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said chaffs are in a broken state or a crushed state.
 8. The plate building material according to claim 1 further comprising at least one type of natural fiber units and artificial fiber units, wherein said filler and at least one type of said natural fiber units and said artificial fiber units fill said gaps distributed among said chaffs; said filler bonds said strip fiber units and at least one type of said natural fiber units and said artificial fiber units to form a plate structure.
 9. The plate building material according to claim 8, wherein said natural fiber units include at least one of rice straws, wooden materials, coconut shells, corn stalks, corn leaves, corn cobs, wheat husks, wheat stems, sugarcane bagasse, bamboo and combinations thereof.
 10. The plate building material according to claim 8, wherein said artificial fiber units include at least one of fabrics, glass fiber, paper, and combinations thereof.
 11. The plate building material according to claim 8, wherein said natural fiber units and said artificial fiber units are in a broken state or a crushed state.
 12. The plate building material according to claim 1 further comprising at least one of flame-retardants, heat dissipating materials, sound absorbing materials, rubber, talcum powder, recycled and regenerated materials, and silica sand.
 13. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said plate building material has transverse grooves or longitudinal grooves or a combination thereof, and wherein several layers of said plate building materials respectively having said transverse grooves and said longitudinal grooves are arranged alternately and hot-pressed to form interwoven hollow spaces.
 14. The plate building material according to claim 1, wherein said plate building material is fabricated into hollow tube structures. 